Hijab (the veil) is one of the most important elements of identity in the personality of the Muslim women. Why was it decreed as an obligatory duty?

To understand the reason, we have, at first, to answer the following question: Is it necessary to regulate the relationship between man and women? Or is this relation one of the manifestations of personal freedom that no one has the right to interfere in?

In Western philosophy there is a tendency to give human beings a universal freedom in his relations with the other sex, being a private affair that people have the right to practise without any restrictions.

But Islam, as well as other religions and ideologies, has put certain restrictions on the personal freedom in this field, since unrestrained freedom creates chaos, especially in the domains of linage and family relations. Thus, Islam believes that you have to remain committed to the wellbeing of the society and prepares man psychologically to control his desires, through a set of laws. In this sense, Hijab is one of the regulations that prevent man from living a state of psychological emergency in response to the call of desires. It is a part of the legislative structure that builds moral commitment.

How does Hijab play this role? Hijab creates the psychological atmosphere to resist the calls for deviation, and builds an internal immunity in both men and women. It suggests to the woman that she should present herself as a human being and helps her to do so by veiling her sexual beauties.

It also suggests to the man that he has to consider the woman as a human being only, since he cannot see her body. Thus the Hijab represents to a large extent a means of blocking the roads that lead to deviation.

What does wearing the Hijab involve?

The material Hijab demands that the woman should cover all her body except the face and the hands, and that she should not wear make-up when she goes out. This means that the Hijab has a martial side which involves the covering of the body, and a moral aspect that makes a woman act as a human being in the society, by not being seen in a makeup that draws attention, or by talking in a certain way {If you will be on your guard, then be not soft in (your) speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn;} or by any other means for that matter.

Which is better for a woman to be committed to the material Hijab or the moral one?

The issue is not which is better, since Islam views the Hijab as one integrated unit that has two closely interacting dimensions. On the one hand, it urges women to be committed to the moral Hijab which prevents the woman from deviation, and which is the reason behind ordaining the material Hijab, and on the other hand, it considers the material hijab a kind of protection that protects both man and woman from being affected by the situations that can have negative effect on their morals. This means that leaving the material hijab threatens the moral one, and vice versa. Thus the Hijab is not a personal or individual matter but a social one too, since everything that prevents the individual from deviation, also impacts the society, since the society in the end is the sum of all its individuals and the system of values, principles and regulations that govern their relations.